Words of the Week

Censorious-- Harshly critical, as in, "His letter to the editor was quite censorious of the party line."

Extirpation-- To destroy totally, as in, "The Religious Right's censorious attack on the First Amendment may yet lead to the extirpation of religious liberty."

Anodyne-- A source of soothing comfort, as in, "Her censorious writing functioned as an anodyne for the barely literate even as it contributed to the extirpation of scholarship in the mainstream press."